Ego is a natural part of our psyche, existing in the conscious real world, experiencing life from a place of self-esteem or self-worth and the thinking self. Though I have no mastery of the Freudian structure of the psyche, I can safely say I've seen Ego at work, have succumbed to my own egotistical fanaticism even, and seen others succumb to theirs. And in the spiritual community, more often than not. For some, simply recognizing, or admitting to, our predisposed urge to satisfy our ego is an exercise in spiritual growth. For some, sadly, it is an exercise in futility.

Recently, I've seen behavior in the spiritual community, especially from spiritual business owners, that are neither spiritual nor professional. And this behavior is often tagged as a "spiritual calling". Imagine this scenario: "Though I didn't want to, I am feeling called by Spirit to...." usually followed by angry rants directed at individuals, paths or beliefs. Spiritual businesses are in the business of lifting up and this behavior seems counter-intuitive to that philosophy.

Is Spirit really so small-minded? Does Spirit really "call us" to use social media as a platform to express our spiritual superiority over others? When we use the phrase "I am being called by Spirit to...", is Spirit calling us or are we projecting our ego on our idea of Spirit as a justification for negativity or negative behavior?

"Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting." - Sydney J. Harris

And I ask myself if I am being spiritually superior because I am expressing my own sadness, discontent or disappointment with the prevalent nature of this egotism. It is a slippery slope, this ego of ours, and dissection of it is an uncomfortable necessity.

So, how do we prevent spiritual superiority? I'm not sure we can, entirely. Perhaps the best we can hope for is a recognition of it, acceptance of it, and a dialogue with ourselves about our spiritual motives. How do we recognize a spiritual superiority in ourselves? We can ask ourselves if we shelter negativity and anger in terms like "love and light" or "spiritual calling". Ask yourself if defensive negativity and anger can come from a place of positivity at all, and if you cannot reconcile that dichotomy, perhaps a re-evaluation of the ego is in order.

And ask yourself, would Spirit use social media to express anger? Probably not. But ego would. Ego definitely would. The least we can do is be honest with ourselves about the narratives we express.